The present invention relates to a method for fire extinguishment on a liquid chlorosilane compound or, more particularly, relates to a method of fire extinguishment on a chlorosilane compound by sprinkling an inert powdery material over the surface.
As is well known, chlorosilane compounds, such as trichlorosilane, dimethyl chlorosilane and the like, are very useful chemical starting materials in various modern industries such as manufacture of semiconductor silicon, synthetic quartz, silicone polymers and the like and the consumption of these materials in industries are rapidly increasing year by year. A very serious problem in these industries is the accident of fire on the chlorosilane compound which is usually a very inflammable liquid because chlorosilane compounds are generally very unstable in air having a relatively low flash point. Moreover, burning chlorosilane compounds produce a large volume of toxic gases and the fire on a burning chlorosilane compound can be extinguished only with great difficulties.
Various kinds of fire-extinguishing agents of course have been proposed in the prior art for fire extinguishment on such a chlorosilane compound but few of them are quite effective, if not ineffective. Even worse, the ingredients of some of conventional fire-extinguishing agents in a powdery form may react with the chlorosilane compound to promote formation of toxic or inflammable gases. Fire-extinguishing agents in a gaseous or liquid form, such as carbon dioxide gas and certain highly halogenated hydrocarbon compounds, are also not effective for fire extinguishment on chlorosilane compounds. In place of these manufactured fire-extinguishing agents, dry sand and water as natural materials can also be used for the purpose without noticeable effect of fire extinguishment. For example, fire on a chlorosilane compound can be extinguished only by sprinkling a large volume of sand thereover. When natural sand is used as such, impurity materials contained in the sand may eventually react with the chlorosilane compound to produce toxic gases. The effectiveness of water as a fire-extinguishing agent of chlorosilane compounds is relatively low. Moreover, violent reactions disadvantageously take place between water and the chlorosilane compound to produce toxic gases such as hydrogen chloride and to cause formation of a large amount of a gel-like material. Certain chlorosilane compounds, when reacted with water, may produce hydrogen gas which itself is inflammable or explosive in an oxidizing atmosphere resulting in a secondary hazard.
Accordingly, it is an urgent technical problem in industries to establish an efficient and safe method for fire extinguishment on a chlorosilane compound without the above described disadvantages and problems in the prior art methods.